1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to antennas.
2. Description of the Related Art
The high cost of professional outdoor antenna installations for broadband wireless access (transmission of voice, data and video) has created a demand for lowermost, user-installable indoor antennas. To meet this demand, optically-transparent conductive films (e.g., silver or indium tin oxide) have been proposed. Although the transparency of such films may be on the order of 70% to 80%, their surface resistance is typically on the order of 4 to 8 ohms per square or higher. This conductivity level generally produces microwave antennas whose efficiency (e.g., on the order of 10%) is less than desirable.